The Montgomery County Office of Grants Management is accepting applications for its 2025 School-Based Food Assistance Grant Program to support programs that increase food security for students and their families and are co-located at an MCPS school site.
Donor Name: Montgomery County Office of Grants Management
State: Maryland
County: Montgomery County (MD)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/26/2024
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: Less than 1 Year
Details:
Funding may be awarded to new initiatives or expansion or continuation of programs at current or additional sites. All awarded programs through the FY25 School-Based Food Assistance Grant Program must:
- Demonstrate past experience with successful operation of school-based food assistance programs in partnership with MCPS;
- Describe a quickly actionable program model for services at new school(s); and
- Identify potential zip codes, capacity, resource needs, and format for expanded services.
Funding Information
- $1,250,000 in total grant funding is available to support programs that increase food security for students and their families and are co-located at an MCPS school site.
- The minimum award that applicants may request is $40,000 and maximum award is $300,000. Final award amounts may be lower than $40,000. The performance period for these grant awards is anticipated to be on/about August 15, 2024 to on/about June 30, 2025.
Funding Priorities
The goal of this program is to support projects that address critical gaps in healthy food access for children and families and/or that offer innovative approaches to co-locate food assistance at an MCPS school site. OFSR is partnering with MCPS representatives to identify the school sites that will be prioritized for support based on the level of need within the school community and anticipated impact of new or expanded school-based food assistance programming.
Applicants will provide details within the Strategy Narrative regarding the scope of services they are capable of providing, and successful applicants will be asked to serve specific MCPS schools that have been identified based on alignment of individual school’s needs with providers’ current programs, experience, and capacity. Awardees will be matched with one or multiple school(s) following the grant review period; the school match(es) will be indicated in grant agreements.
The range of programming allowed under this grant is intentionally very flexible. Examples of project models that will be considered for funding include, but are not limited to:
- Choice pantry at the school site, offering school community members a choice model with access to a variety of culturally relevant, healthy shelf-stable and fresh food items including fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and eggs;
- Pre-packed box/bag distribution for students that includes healthy, locally sourced produce options;
- Delivery of nutritious, medically and/or preference-tailored prepared meals to school populations with unique needs; and
- Grocery Gift Cards distributed to school families that allow for flexible food purchasing and delivery options for families that experience transportation or other barriers to food access.
Target Population
For students and families that rely on school meals and/or face barriers to food access related to transportation or otherwise, an in-school pantry or at-school food distribution can help to address nutrition insecurity and provide convenient access to necessary resources. The FY25 School-Based Food Assistance Grant Program will award funding to initiatives that will support food access at MCPS school sites throughout the County.”
Eligibility Criteria
Lead applicants may only submit one application, and must meet all of the following conditions:
- The organization must be a food assistance provider based in Montgomery County that has provided food assistance services over the past calendar year in at least one MCPS site, as demonstrated through attached documentation (ex: email documentation, formal contract or Memorandum of Understanding, or signed letter of support from an administrator at the school site);
- The organization must be currently registered and in Good Standing with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT);
- The organization’s principal place of business must be located in Montgomery County; if a national or regional organization, it must have a location in Montgomery County through which it provides related services;
- All activities and expenditures under this grant program must be provided in Montgomery County and/or be exclusively for Montgomery County residents;
- The proposed project in the application must not exclude any potential beneficiaries and/or participants based on their race, ethnicity, gender, or any other protected class;
- Current Montgomery County contract or grant award winners must be current on all reporting obligations for other awards and those reports must reflect substantial progress towards the goals of their awards; and
- Proposed expenses must be for a new activity, expansion of existing activities, or a combination of both. Grant funding cannot be used for any purchase which has already been made; purchases or activities unnecessary to accomplish grant purposes as determined by Montgomery County; prior obligations of and/or fines;debts and penalties imposed on the grantee; lobbying expenses; alcoholic beverages; or supplanting (replacing) other funds.
For more information, visit MCOGM.
